Chapter 74: Why are you two so quiet?

What was it that looked so different about her today? What was forcing him to just stare at her wildly, without even blinking?

?And then Himanshu noticed it. Her body language felt a bit off today. Usually, when the demon stood, she commanded space. Her shoulders were always straight and stiff like a queen, and she walked with this crazy arrogance like she didn’t care about a single thing—no matter how much of her skin was showing.

?But today... today, those stiff shoulders were slightly hunched forward, like she was trying to shrink herself, trying to hide her body. Or maybe, it was better to say that in this cold, lifeless room, she was actually feeling like a normal human today. In human terms, you’d probably call it ’blushing’ or ’feeling shy.’

?That tiny, subtle shift was exactly what was pulling Himanshu toward her even more.

?And the one thing that had stopped him from noticing or thinking about any of this for so long was her eyes. Those eyes that always looked down on him, that pushed him away with just a single cold glare.

?But today... those deep eyes weren’t meeting his at all. They were just darting around, looking at the floor or the walls.

?The demon just stood there for a few seconds, and Himanshu’s breath stayed caught in his throat.

?Parting her slightly wet, soft lips, she broke that heavy silence.

?"I... need to get dressed."

?This was the second time she had said this to him. But this time, her voice didn’t have that usual bossy, commanding tone. It was soft, quiet, almost sounding like a request.

?Normally, whenever she stepped out of the bathroom, Himanshu would scramble out of the room before she even had to say a word. Not out of shyness... but out of the pure fear of getting kicked!

?Those words snapped Himanshu out of his daze. He scrambled up, his legs tripping over each other, and somehow managed to stumble out of the room.

?The second the door clicked shut behind him, Himanshu leaned his back against the cold wooden door. His chest was heaving up and down. He tried to get his breathing under control. The heart that was supposed to beat at its normal, steady pace was racing way too fast right now.

?’What... what the hell was that?’

?It felt like hot steam was coming off his face. His ears were completely red.

?’Wait... hold on, wasn’t I just cursing her out a minute ago?’

?He suddenly remembered the throbbing pain in his back and his swollen cheek. ’She literally just got Mom to beat the crap out of me!’

?Remembering that, the heat in his ears slowly started turning into pure anger. His fists clenched on their own. He fought those thugs, took punches, even got sliced by a knife, all because of her. And what did she do in return? Walked straight in and snitched to Mom!

?Furious, Himanshu grabbed the door handle to turn around. He wanted to go back inside and give this demon a piece of his mind right now.

?And right then... he remembered what she had said in the car.

?"You shouldn’t have fought them like that."

?Himanshu’s hand froze on the handle. His pupils shrank a little.

?And then... it slowly clicked. Why the demon had told Mom about the fight.

?The fog in his brain started clearing up. He finally understood that the demon was actually starting to get scared of losing him. That was the reason she hadn’t laid a hand on him for days. That was why she stopped herself even when she was snatching the phone from him earlier.

?The only thing holding back her deadly anger was probably the fear of losing the one single person (Himanshu) she had in this new, unknown world.

?And suddenly, all her weird, illogical decisions started making sense. Why didn’t she just deal with those thugs herself?

?The answer was way deeper than what Himanshu had initially thought. He used to think she just didn’t know where and how to use her anger. But now... he slowly started feeling that her choosing to ’do nothing’ was directly tied to him.

?He gripped the door handle tighter.

?’Wait, what... is the reason for this...’

?Before he could even finish that thought out loud, there was a ’click’. She opened the door from the inside.

?All of Himanshu’s weight was leaning heavily on the handle. The moment the door opened, combined with the demon’s sudden pull, Himanshu lost his balance completely.

?He fell straight forward. And before he could stop himself, his face planted directly into her soft chest.

?For a few seconds, a terrifying silence fell over the room. The only sound was Himanshu’s paused, stuttering breaths.

?Himanshu didn’t move an inch from that position. His body froze like ice. His heart was ready to break through his ribs. He knew exactly what was going to happen to him next. He had already taken a brutal beating from Mom, he had just taken his painkillers, and he definitely didn’t have the guts to get more bones broken today.

?Even though that part of his body wanted to just stay buried in that comfortable, soft spot, his brain was ringing massive alarm bells.

?Before the demon could even react, Himanshu dumped whatever little power was left in his body straight into his legs.

?He violently shoved himself backward.

?"Sorry... it was an accident!"

?Himanshu didn’t look back. He didn’t even dare to check the expression on her face. He just bolted from there and only stopped when he reached the sofa in the hall.

?Gripping the edge of the sofa, he tried to calm his heavy panting.

?’I survived...’

?Honestly, if she wanted to, she could have grabbed him by the collar right then and there. But maybe... she just wasn’t in the right state of mind to do that right now either.

?°°°°°°°°°

?A few moments later, all three of them were having dinner at the dining table.

?The only sound in the hall was spoons clinking against plates. Himanshu didn’t lift his eyes an inch away from his food. And the demon didn’t say a word either.

But Mom’s sharp eyes had been noticing this weird, awkward silence between them for a while now.

"What’s wrong? Why are you two so quiet? Did something happen between you guys?"

?